


We're on a Road to Nowhere

by immortalpramheda



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, End of the World, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Neighbors, Road Trip, Seeking a Friend for The End of the World AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-09
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:08:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25139749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/immortalpramheda/pseuds/immortalpramheda
Summary: Ben is all alone as an asteroid heads towards Earth. That is until his neighbour across the hall comes into his life.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 17
Kudos: 40





	1. 15 Days

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the movie Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

“We are getting to the pointy end now, folks,” the radio host says in an unsettling cheerful manner. “A mere fifteen days to go until the seventy mile wide asteroid aptly named _Starkiller_ makes contact with Earth.”

Ben sits in the parking lot of the insurance company, _First Order Solutions,_ and listens to the news report. It used to be impossible to get a parking spot, the closest were usually at least a five minute walk away from the building. But now it was almost abandoned. He got a park right next to the entry doors of the building. There were maybe six other cars here.

Most people didn’t bother coming into work anymore considering the circumstances. But Ben had nothing better to do. And it gave him a reason to get up in the morning. It gave him something to do rather than constantly think about the unfortunate dire state the world was in.

The radio was mostly static but it was one of the few things that worked anymore. Phone signals, internet and like had stopped working weeks ago. Radio, television and physical newspapers were the only sources of current news they had. The only connection to the wider world.

“What are you folks going to be doing?” the radio host continues. “Trying to jam in learning a new skill? Wallowing in self pity? However you choose to spend your final days I wish you well—“

He shuts the radio off and takes a deep breath. Work, that’s what he was doing. The woman at reception is staring out into space and doesn’t even notice him walk in, even when he gives her a small wave. That was the norm now, everyone was living in their own fantasy or in a state of shock now that this news, which was initially thought to be nothing of concern, was in fact very real.

He sets up at his desk. The computers still work and they still have power, but no internet or phone. All of their current cases had to be handed in in person or sent by mail, which was running very slow at the moment. There had been lots of inquiries about ‘apocalyptic insurance’, which unfortunately did not cover asteroids or even exist.

His boss, Sir. Snoke, calls all of the five staff who bothered to show up today in for a company meeting. Himself, Phasma, Pryde, the guy whose name he had never bothered to learn, and his arch nemesis, Hux. Ever since Ben had started working here, Hux had taken a real hating to him - wishing he’d fail and scowling at him constantly. And he’d even sometimes trying to sabotage his cases, which he had yet to succeed in.

“Now I know how bad things seem right now, but we have some exciting news,” Snoke announces.

Hux, sitting directly in front of him, sits up straighter. Ben can’t help but smile at the ridiculousness of him.

“Armitage Hux has been given a promotion,” their boss continues. “After five years as a salesman, he will now be manager of the family section of the company.”

Hux stands up and proudly addresses the room. He stands there waiting for his grand applause and Ben stifles a chuckle when no one makes a move. Phasma, sitting to his right, is softly snoring.

“Oh why thank you,” Hux says in that annoying accent of his. “I am very honoured to be given this promotion after all the hard work I’ve done. I will bring this company to greatness, I promise you that. _First Order Solutions_ will rise to become most regarded insurance company in the state! Thank you again to our boss, it’s been an honour working with you, Sir. Snoke.”

After the short meeting of Hux’s untimely promotion, Snoke orders them all to get back to their workstations.

As Ben is riffling through his current jobs, which are all useless in this climate, Hux pops his head over his with that smug, annoying smile he always has plastered on his face.

“Take that, Solo,” he says. “I got a promotion. I’m _your_ boss now.”

“You do realise it doesn’t matter,” Ben says. He is genuinely concerned with his mental clarity considering the state the world is in. “We’ll all be dead in two weeks.”

“Not if _I_ play a part in finding a cure.”

“A cure? An asteroid is going to _destroy_ our planet. You think someone who works in insurance can stop it?”

“Yes, actually,” he says confidently. “Well, maybe not stop it, but I’ll survive to help the world recover. Someone as highly regarded as me will surely be allowed to take refuge in a bunker.”

“Haven’t you heard the news?” Ben moves his head closer and talks in a low tone. “ _Starkiller_ is going to blow the entire planet to smithereens. Nothing and _no one_ is going to survive. It’s an asteroid, it doesn’t matter how much or little you’ve accomplished in your life, we’re all going to die.”

He looks somewhat defeated. The most vulnerable Ben had ever seen him before. It takes him a moment to respond. “Space then, I’ll find a spaceship and escape this retched world. My father was—”

“Yes, yes, I’m well aware of who your father was.” Brendol Hux, a renowned businessman who died of suspicious circumstances two years ago. His son had always been in his shadow, and he only got this job because of his legacy. “Well, good luck with that.”

Hux goes off and doesn’t bother him for the rest of the day. When the work day comes to an end, he had gotten no work done which had become expected. All the cases they had were no use now. Most of them would take at least three weeks to get sorted out and there was not enough time anymore.

As he walks out of the building towards his car, something falls from the sky and lands with a loud _crunch_ on the concrete right in front of him.

He is so surprised by it and only after a moment does he realise it’s a person. He cranes his neck up high - they must have fallen, or jumped, from the roof. It’s a long way down, no doubt they died on impact. As he gets a closer look he recognises who it is. Pryde. Some others come out to see what the noise was and screams are heard all around him.

Ben feels ill and cannot to stay there any longer. He rushes past the small crowd that has gathered and gets into his car. He watches as the crowd gets larger and more screams are heard.

Someone just _died_ right in front of him. He’s in shock, sure, but somehow he also feels… not much of anything. The truth of the matter is they’ll all be dead soon. Death doesn’t seem so distant anymore.

Once he regains his bearings he drives through the chaotic traffic to his apartment. He flashes his keycard and parks in the parking lot under the apartment building. He finds a spot, although it’s a very tight fit.

Only then does he remember he has very little food in his house. Not feeling like frozen berries, oatmeal or tinned tuna for dinner, he decides to head to the mini-mart nearby. He can’t be bothered to reverse out of the car spot so he walks.

There is barely anything left on the shelves. The fresh fruit and vegetable supply stopped coming about a month ago. Now it was only frozen, prepackaged and microwave meals, but even they were running low. He grabs a microwave lasagne and a tub of ice cream. That would have to do.

As he walks back along the street he takes note of all the advertisements stuck on the wall. People in a last minute effort to make some extra money. Some he could understand - like the prostitutes for hire or housecleaning for people who wanted a nice place to spend their final days in. By far the most popular one he’d seen around, and heard stories about, was the ‘ _Stormtroopers’_.

It was a hitman hiring business for people wanting to die painlessly and quickly before the world ended. They wear white armour and shoot you when you least expect it. He could understand the appeal, but it was still quite unsettling that this was an accepted way to go out.

He skims over the rest of the ads. People giving away their pets, which was sad. People looking for a car, or house, or even a spaceship. And then he stops on one that catches his eye - ‘ _A friend for the end of the world_ ’. He considers taking the address but then takes his hand away. Friends weren’t just handed out. You had to make them. You had to get to know someone. He’d given up trying to find someone to spend his final days with now that the end was this close.

It’s not like he didn’t have any friends. He did. Tai, his best friend since childhood. Months before this catastrophic news had come out he’d moved over to Australia with his fiancée. They kept in contact through email and video chats, but when the phones were shut down they couldn’t talk anymore. Ben considered flying over there but then the airports were shut.

And now he was stuck here, stranded in New York City, with a stupid job at an insurance agency and surrounded by strangers he didn’t know.

But that was just how it was and how it would have to be. Two weeks wasn’t enough to turn things around. Two weeks wasn’t enough to find someone.


	2. 15 Days

Ben eats his microwave lasagne and half the tub of ice cream as he blankly watches the news. Same old, same old, But the weather would be quite nice tomorrow, which was a change from the gloomy days they’d had lately. Maybe he’d skip work and head down the park and watch all the happy families. Although seeing them all happy while he was all alone might make him feel even worse.

As he washes up in the kitchen, he hears a crash outside that makes him jump. A woman appears outside the living room window. She crouches down and hugs her legs to herself as she cries. He stops and watches her. She looks sad. Something has happened to her. Something bad.

He’s seen her around. She lives across the hallway, but they’d never spoken before. He didn’t even know her name. He puts the dishes down and heads over to the window slowly as not to scare her. He considers leaving her alone - he didn’t want to come off as creepy. But she was clearly upset about something and he wanted to help.

He slides the window up and can well and truly hear her sobs now. She doesn’t even notice him yet. He talks quietly so he doesn’t frighten her. “Are you okay?”

Her head pops up and she stares at him, surprised to see him there, and then comes to her senses and starts wiping her eyes. “Sorry, I—“

“It’s okay. Are you in danger?”

She shakes her head. “No… it’s—“

She doesn’t finish her sentence and instead wraps her arms around him in a hug. He’s not sure what to do. Physical attraction wasn’t something he was used to, nor was it his favourite thing. She hugs him tight and he eventually softens and wraps his arms around her too. He was half leaning out of the window and his back was hurting from the awkward angle it was bent at.

“Do you… want to come in?” he asks. The cool outside breeze was making him shiver. She shouldn't be out here in the cold.

He helps her climb over the window frame into the living room of his apartment and closes the window behind her.

“Do you need anything? Some water? Food?” he asks, trying to keep his nerves in check. “Although I’m running low on that at the moment. But I do have half a tub of ice cream.”

“I’m okay, thanks.” Her eyes are wandering around his very neat and tidy apartment.

He gestures to the couch. “Sit down. You live across the hall right? I’ve seen you around.”

She looks at him, but not much recognition appears on her face. “Yes. I… _think_ I’ve seen you around too.”

His face wasn’t one people would stop and pay attention to. He was kinda… forgettable. At least that’s how he saw himself. “I’m Ben.”

“Rey,” she says with a smile.

_Rey_ , he thinks to himself. _What a beautiful name that is._

She looks up at him sheepishly and he’s unsure of what to do. He’s never been alone with a girl in his apartment before.

“I’m sorry to just barge in like this,” she says.

“No, no, it’s okay, considering… the asteroid and all.”

“Yeah…” She starts shivering at the mention of that. “I live with my boyfriend—well now _ex-_ boyfriend. I’ve told him to move out but all his _shit_ is still in my house and he refuses to move it. He says he has nowhere else to go and so I screamed, ‘Why don’t you go and live with your _boyfriend_!’”

He raises his eyebrows at her. This sounded like an interesting story.

“Yeah, that’s right, I’d been with him for two years and had _no_ clue he was gay. And the guy he cheated on me with? My co-worker down at the mechanic shop.”

“No…” Ben says, slightly amused by the ridiculousness of this story.

“Poe Dameron, my superior, basically my boss. My boyfriend ran off with my _boss!_ And now the world is ending and you know what, I’m putting the blame on him!”

“I’m sorry,” is all Ben can think to say. It’s not the type of drama anyone should be dealing with right now.

“It’s okay.” She wipes some tears away. “At least I won’t spend my final moments with someone who doesn’t love me. That’s something, right?”

“Sure,” Ben says. “So you work at a mechanic shop?”

“Yup, the one down on Third Street. We’ve been flat out, what with people trying to drive away and escape this impending doom. And now we can’t even get parts with air travel having been banned. It’s been hectic. What about you?”

“I sell insurance.”

She snorts. “Tough business to be in at the moment.”

“Yeah, it is.” It was so easy to talk to her. So effortless. He felt an urge to tell her about the ordeal today. He wanted to tell someone. “Actually, things are so bad that one of my co-workers committed suicide today.”

She sits up. “Oh shit.”

“Jumped from the roof and landed right in front of me.” He gives a nervous laugh, trying to turn it into a funny story.

“Are you okay?” She reaches out a hand towards him, but then pulls back. They’re strangers, they don’t know each other.

“Yeah.”

“You shouldn’t go back there. Insurance isn’t going to be of any use now.”

He nodded, that was his thinking too. “Lots of inquires about ‘apocalypse insurance’ which isn’t even a thing.”

“Imagine how much money you’d make if it was?” She laughs. “So, what are your plans then? You got family or anyone to go visit?”

“No. Just me.”

“No one? You don’t have _anyone_?”

“I did. I mean, I do. My best friend, Tai, he moved to Australia. But now I can’t even contact him.”

“I’m sorry, I know the feeling. My parents are over in London. I was hoping to fly over and spend the final days with them. But now the planes have stopped flying and whatnot so I’ve been trying to find someone who has a private plane that could get me over there.”

Ben almost opens his mouth and tells her about the person he knows with a plane. But they barely know each other, and the person of interest wasn’t in his life anymore. They hadn’t been for a long time.

She gives a small smile. “I guess we’ll both be spending the end of the world in our own company then.”

It was somewhat comforting knowing he wasn’t going be the only one alone. “I guess so.”

She relaxes down onto the couch and starts quietly sobbing again. “Not so bad really. Self love and all that _bullshit_. All you need is to love yourself, they say.”

He hands her a blanket and she wraps it around herself.

“Thanks. If it’s okay…”

“You can stay here, no problem.”

“I’ll deal with Finn tomorrow,” she says with a yawn as her eyes begin to flutter closed. “By the way, I’m a deep sleeper so don’t be alarmed if I don’t wake up. I mean, if I don’t wake up for a few days, then be concerned but… Goodnight.”

He switches the light switch off and leaves her in the dark. He lingers a moment and looks at the girl sleeping on his couch before he heads off to his own room to try to get some sleep.


	3. 14 days

The next morning, Rey is still sleeping soundly on Ben’s couch. He couldn’t sleep and gave up trying to in his own bed and settled down close to her with a book. Just in case anything happened during the night. She was so peaceful as she slept. He was envious. Sleep hadn’t ever come easy to him, especially not lately.

In the morning he clangs around in the kitchen as he makes a breakfast of the meagre food he has left. He even accidentally sets the smoke alarm off. But even that didn’t wake her. Even when he clapped his hands right in her face, she didn’t blink an eye. She really was a deep sleeper.

The faint sound of the recliner chair squeaking as he leans back is what eventually wakes her up. She sure was curious. He watches as she opens her sleepy eyes and looks around, trying to reorient herself to these new surroundings.

“Morning,” she says with a big yawn, stretching her arms high above her.

“It’s almost midday,” he says.

“Oh,” she says, jumping up. “I’m sorry”

“No, no it’s okay. I wasn’t planning to go to work today anyway.” He wrings his hands together nervously. “I parked underground which was probably stupid anyway, I doubt I’d be able to get my car out now.”

She heads straight to the front door like she knows her way around. This apartment has a similar set up to hers, all of the ones in this building are almost identical. “I’ll be going now.”

Ben stands up. “I’ll walk you, just in case your ex gives you any trouble.”

She was very thankful for that. He waits at her font door as she goes in to check.

“He’s gone,” she calls out. When she returns she holds out a red envelope to him.

He takes it. “What’s this?”

“It’s yours.” It has his name and address clearly written on it with careful handwriting. “You know how the mailman sometimes screws up and puts the mail in the wrong box? I got this a couple of weeks ago and kept meaning to slide it under your door but I forgot. Better late than never right?”

Ben looks at the writing. It’s familiar. He knows that writing, and his stomach drops. It brings up lots of memories. Not all of them good ones.

“Who’s Kira?” Rey asks.

He looks at her questioningly. How does she know that name? She nods towards the envelope. He turns it over and it has that name written as the return address. He hadn’t heard that name in a long time.

“She was,” he starts, swallowing hard. “She was my high school sweetheart. We were together for almost two years before life split us up and we went our separate ways.”

She looks at him expectantly with a wide smile on her face. “Go on, open it.”

He’s a little nervous but is curious to see what it says. After all these yers, what could she possibly have to say? He tears it open carefully and reads the letter, once, then again, then for a third time to make sure he’s read it right. His face blushes. She can’t be serious…

“Well, what does it say?” Rey asks eagerly.

He takes a deep breath. “She’s recently gotten divorced and wants me back.”

She leans forward and grabs his arms and jumps up and down. “Oh my god!! You have to go to her. This is who you’re meant to spend the end of the world with! This is it. Oh how romantic!”

This couldn’t be as good as it seemed. He stands there and doesn’t say a word, just stares at the letter.

“Oh c’mon, Ben, what have you got to lose? We’ll all be dead in two weeks anyway.”

She had a point. But still… Kira… after what she’d done to him, could she really mean this?

Rey finally speaks after he’s been silent for an uncomfortable amount of time. “I’ll see you around. Actually, I hope I don’t. I hope you take this opportunity and go and win her back.”

He nods in acknowledgement as he says farewell. He heads back to his apartment and it feels empty now. He actually liked spending time with her. Something different in his final days.

_Kira._ It had been years since he even thought about her. They were so in love in high school. Or at least, he was. She obviously didn’t feel the same way and he felt stupid for wasting so much time on her. She broke his heart with what she did.

But now, as he reads the letter again, she does seem genuine. She wants him back. Should he go and find her as Rey suggested? To spend his final days with her, with _someone_ , would be better than spending it alone. But still, he wasn’t sure. He puts the letter on the kitchen bench and tries to forget about it.

The depression hours come again when everything in life seems pointless. The news was depressing, and everything was falling apart. He ends up having a short nap and when he wakes, it's dark. Another day almost over. He decides to go out and get some food.

There is barely anything in the mini-mart and he isn’t even sure what he wants. He finished off the ice cream earlier and isn’t particularly feeling hungry. There is one bottle of vodka left and he decides to buy that instead.

He heads to the park, where there are couples and families watching the stars and the beautifully bright full moon shining down on them. He feels jealous. Everyone around him is happy. Everyone had someone. Except for him.

He fights the urge to yell at them. Why should they be happy while he’s miserable? It wasn’t fair. Nothing was. If only his mother… no, he shouldn’t think of her now. That only made things worse. That only made him feel even more alone. If she were here nothing would feel like this. She’d make him felt safe.

He downs the entire bottle of vodka. If he didn’t wake up, he didn’t care. Better to go before the asteroid comes. Maybe hiring a Stormtrooper wasn’t such a stupid idea after all. Eventually the alcohol kicks in and he passes out.

He’s woken up by a cold, wet feeling on his cheek. He opens his eyes to a brown ball of fur licking his face. He jumps up and steps out of its reach. He's never particularly liked dogs. It has a blank collar on and lead still attached. He looks around - it’s now morning and there is absolutely no one around.

The dog is cute, he had to admit that. He pets his head which he very much likes. “Who do you belong to?”

He must have been abandoned which had been happening lately. People giving up their pets because they can no longer care for them. He can’t bring himself to leave this dog to wander the streets alone. He lifts his hand up to block the sun from his eyes and notices the end of the lead is tied to his hand. Someone left the dog in the care of him. In the care of someone passed out in a park. What a stupid thing to do.

Ben sighs. His head was pounding from the overload of alcohol and he felt like his stomach was about to explode. The dog begins licking the vodka bottle and he kicks it out of reach. The dog looks starving.

“Let’s go home,” he says to his new friend.


	4. 13 days

After a meal of a tin of tuna and some stale bread, the dog seemed in much better spirits. He was actually a nice companion. He was very inquisitive and Ben enjoyed watching him explore the apartment. It was a nice distraction and this fur ball sure did make him laugh.

Although, he had begun chewing everything so he’d nicknamed him ‘ _Chewie_ ’. And by everything that meant _everything_ \- the frayed edges of the sofa, his favourite shoes, the toilet paper. But honestly Ben didn’t mind.

Sleep came easy to him that night. The direness of the world ending, now only thirteen days left, didn’t bother him as much. He had a dog, he had a companion to spend his time with. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Chewie needed him and it felt nice to be needed. He tells himself he did something good. Without him, this dog may have died.

He wakes up to barking the next morning. When he sits up with a fright he smells smoke. _Shit._

He rushes out of his bedroom. “ _Chewie!_ ”

The dog comes pattering down the hallway and he gathers him up in his arms. The poor dog was shaking. The living room window was fogged up by smoke. He opens the window and peers through. He can’t see anything but he can hear the noise of the riots down on the street.

It’s noisy and the smoke is overpowering but his only concern right at this minute is Rey. She didn’t wake up even when he was making a big loud ruckus. She may not wake up now either. He attaches Chewie’s lead to his collar and then climbs out the window.

It seems the apartment building on one of the lowers levels is on fire. He races across the hall finds the window of her apartment. Same design as his. He pushes and it’s a little stiff but it slides up. He climbs in.

“Rey?” he yells. He puts Chewie down and he races towards the bedroom.

He barges into someone and bounces back.

“Who the _hell_ are you?” the man says.

Ben’s vision is a little blurry but as it becomes clearer he sees the dark skinned man standing in front of him. This must be her ex, Finn.

“I came to check on Rey,” he says dizzily. “I know she’s a heavy sleeper.”

“Oh, I get it,” Finn says. “ _You’re_ the man she’s been having an affair with huh?”

That accusation was unbelievable, considering _he_ was the cheater. “I live across the hall—“

“The neighbour? That’s convenient. She put all the blame on me when she was doing the _exact_ same thing.”

Ben didn’t feel like arguing. He needed to get to Rey. Her safety was most important. He barges past and throws the bedroom door open. As he suspected, she’s still fast asleep.

He gently taps on her cheek, hoping she’ll wake up. It takes a few moments but she does.

As soon as she smells the smoke she immediately jumps up. “Fire.”

He helps her up. “We need to get out of here.”

“Thank you,” she says as she races out of the room. “Thank you for coming for me."

“You’ve been sleeping with him haven’t you?” Finn yells when she rushes past him. “Rey, answer me!”

“I’m not the one who cheated and lied, you are!” she yells. “Now there’s a fire and you didn’t think to wake me? You’re fucking unbelievable, Finn.”

“Oh, then who is he?”

“A friend.”

“A friend who you _fuck_?”

She ignores him and begins gathering some precious things. Sketchbooks, pencils and a few photographs. Chewie wanders up to her.

“Aww, who’s this?” she says.

“Chewie,” Ben says. “He sorta fell into my possession.”

She pets his face and then picks him up. “He’s adorable.”

Ben gathers her mementos for her while she's carrying the dog. “We need to go.”

“Right,” she says, looking around for her car keys. “Do you have a car or do you want to take mine? Oh right you parked yours underground.”

“We’ll need to take yours, if it’s somewhere accessible.”

“I parked out on the street somewhere. I’ll find it. Hopefully.”

That’d have to do.

“Where the _hell_ are we going?” Finn asks.

Rey stops and confronts him. “We? I think I’d prefer if you stayed here.”

“And leave me to burn to death? Yeah, thanks Rey.”

She wasn’t that cold and elbows him towards the window. “C’mon.”

The three of them, plus Chewie, climb out the window and run down stairs. They emerge onto the riot filled streets. Things are insane, and there is smoke pouring out of the underground parking lot. Ben’s car is definitely out of the question.

“Umm,” Rey says, turning around frantically. “My car… right. It was _somewhere_ out here.”

“You seriously forgot again,” Finn says.

Rey places Chewie on the ground and takes the lead from Rey. He puts a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. “Which street, it wasn’t one of these cars was it?”

The cars were smashed, and looted, none of them would be in condition to drive.

She shakes her head, a lightbulb going off in her head. She begins leading the way. “This way I think.”

After going down multiple blocks, they eventually find her car parallel parked on a quiet street packed with cars. Hers in jammed in between two others.

“Ta da!” she says, unlocking the car and jumping in the drivers seat.

Ben picks up Chewie and gets into the back seat while Finn gets in the passengers seat. Rey revs the car a few times and it struggles, but eventually starts.

“God Rey, when is the last time you serviced your car? You’re a mechanic for gods sake!” Finn says.

Rey turns to him with a death stare. “Would you stop it, please! I don’t think you realise how serious this situation is.”

She reverses and slams into the car behind them.

“ _God damnit_ Rey!” Finn yells. “Would you be careful?”

“Why don’t you go run off to Poe?” she snaps. “He’s a better driver than I am isn’t he? You’re always raving about his skills.”

He rolls his eyes and gets out of the car, leaning on the door to speak to her. ”I’ll instruct you. The way Poe taught me how to.”

He stands on the sidewalk, flailing his arms around as some kind of instructions for her, but it only makes Rey even more mad.

She rams into the car in front, and then back to the car behind, denting the bumper immensely. With the other two cars, smashed, she’s free to get out. She does a tricky three point turn and they’re out on the road. She stops and looks at Finn through the rear view mirror for minute as he walks towards them.

But she doesn’t wait for him. Rey slams on the accelerator and recklessly drives off, leaving her ex-boyfriend behind. Ben has to grab onto the seat in front to keep from being thrown around. He looks behind at Finn who is yelling Rey’s name it seems by the shape his mouth is making.

“Whew!” Rey hoots. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a _long_ time! Did you see the look on his face? That felt so good!!”

He gives small smile. “Will he be okay on his own?”

She snorts. “He can go to Poe, I don’t want to concern myself with his wellbeing anymore. I’ve never… I’ve never felt such a rush of adrenaline before. I should have kicked his ass to the curb years ago.”

Ben pats Chewie to keep himself occupied, feeling a little uneasy by her driving.

She glances at him in the rearview mirror. “Where are we headed?”

Ben shrugs. “Don’t know.”

Her eyes light up. “Let’s go to Kira.”

“Rey…”

“Why not? What do you have to lose? Our apartment is probably going to be brunt to a crisp. We can’t go back there. We can only go forward somewhere else.”

He looks down at Chewie. “What if she doesn’t want to see me?”

“She said she wants you back! C’mon, Ben, you don’t want to spend your final days alone do you?”

The thought of seeing Kira again, of seeing how successful she’d become and how much of a failure he was, it terrified him. He wasn’t ready for that pain. For him to be looked down upon as he always had been. But Rey was right. She _did_ say she wanted him back. And what was there to lose now?

“Okay,” he says. Then he realises he didn’t bring the letter from her, with her address on the back. It didn’t even cross his mind to grab it when he smelt the smoke. “I only know her childhood home in Maine. I doubt she lives there anymore. And I can’t remember the return address on the envelope.”

“It’s a start,” she says. “Oh this is so exciting! Isn’t it?”

He forces a small smile in response. He supposed it was. Not knowing what the future held, however short lived it may be, was exciting.


	5. 12 days

“Life in London was great,” Rey says.

They’d been driving for a couple of hours now, and almost the whole drive she’d been talking. She sure liked to talk.

“The cool breeze in the Summer, the food, the fashion. I loved it there,” she continues.

“So why’d you move to New York?” Ben asks.

“I couldn’t keep a job. The economy wasn’t great at that time and nothing ever stuck. And with all the public transport, cars weren’t something that everyone owned. But when I moved here, I found a great mechanic where they immediately hired me. And I made some good friends. I just… I would give anything to be able to get back home to my parents. To see them one last time. So they can see who I’ve grown up to become. To say goodbye.”

“Maybe you still can.”

She wipes away a tear. “I doubt it. They’ve closed off airspace, and by boat would take too long, we’d be stuck in the fire from the asteroid and I don’t want be stuck out at sea when it hits.”

“I know a pilot,” Ben blurts out. “Well, I knew a pilot.”

A giant smile appears on her face as she glances over at him. “You do? Do they have a plane?”

“You could say that,” he says with the cock of his head. “I could… I mean, I can’t promise anything, but after we find Kira I could take you there.”

“That would be…” He can hear her voice start to go squeaky as she trails off. “Thank you, Ben.”

They drive in silence for a few moments, the view of the countryside is quite quaint and peaceful. And then she starts talking again.

“I’ve blabbered on about my life, what about you?” She can see him getting uncomfortable but decides to keep talking anyway. “Your parents? Siblings?”

“Only child,” Ben replies. “My mom got sick and died three years ago and my dad and I haven’t spoken since the funeral.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He stares out the window. “It’s fine. My dad and I were never really close anyway, she was our connection to each other and without her…” _Without her, there was nothing keeping us together,_ he thinks.

“Does he live nearby? Have you thought about seeing him?”

He shakes his head. “I know where he lives, but no, I don’t think he’d want to see me. I remind him too much of her.”

It was even painful thinking about it. But it felt good to let it out. To speak it into existence so he could move on from the past.

Suddenly a beeping starts. It echoes through their ears as Rey slows down.

“Oh no,” Rey says, squinting at the odometer.

“What is it?” Ben says. The beeping didn’t sound good.

“We’re almost out of fuel.”

“Almost? How much is left?”

The car comes to a complete stop and she looks back to him sadly. “None.”

“Do have any spare fuel?”

She shakes her head. “Nope, and there’s no gas station for miles. And that’s if they even have any.” She gets out of the car and he follows suit. “Shit, I’m sorry. I wasn’t expecting to have to go on a road trip. I should have been more prepared and taken some fuel from the mechanic. But even we were running low there.”

He didn’t blame her, none of this was expected.

A few cars drive past on the road and she looks to him. “We could hitchhike?”

Ben didn’t like that idea, his parents had taught him to be wary of strangers. “Are you sure that’s safe?”

“Yeah, of course, I‘ve done it before. I mean, keep your senses alert and trust your gut, obviously.” She gathers Chewie’s face in her hands. “And we have this one to protect us. No one would _dare_ touch this little cutie pie.”

Rey gathers all her things - sketchbooks, art supplies and the other mementoes she took from her place. She hands it to Ben to carry in one arm and Chewie in the other, while she sticks her thumb out. A few cars drive past but no one stops, but Rey keeps trying. She was resilient and she showed no fear.

She comes back to Ben who is waiting under a tree in the shade. “Maybe we should walk a bit more to a main road?”

They walk along the road, her with her thumb stuck out in case anyone driving along stops. They make small talk, and then suddenly right as they’re about to turn around the corner, a small truck stops. Rey smiles at Ben and runs to the truck. He follows behind a few metres, walking slowly, wary of this stranger who has stopped for them.

“Where are ya heading?” the man behind the wheel asks. He has a Texan accent and a stringy bit of hay hanging out of his mouth.

“Maine,” Rey says.

He takes them all in, the three of them not looking in a great state, before he makes up his mind. He makes eye contact with Ben as he talks. “I can take ya to the border, that’s as far as I’m heading.”

“Thank you, thank you!!” Rey says, jumping up and down. It looked like she wanted to give the man a hug but then though better of it.

They squeeze into the front seat. Ben sits in the middle holding Chewie tight so Rey doesn’t have to sit next to this strange man.

“So,” the truck driver, whose name turned out to be Kyle, asks as they begin to drive. “Where are ya headed?”

Rey speaks up. “Ben’s high school sweetheart wants him back.”

“Oh,” he says, giving Ben a strange look. “That’s sweet.”

“Very romantic if I do say so,” Rey says. “And then we’re going to see Ben’s friend who has a plane so I can get back home to London before--”

“Before the world ends.” He takes the piece of hay out of his mouth and holds it out the window. “Don’t ya just want to end it now before it all blows up, ya know?”

The sad thing is, Ben did understand. He did know that feeling. He almost tried to end it a few nights ago. He has considered just getting it over with before things get even worse. But then Chewie came into his life. And now Rey. And they were on their way to Kira. Things were alright now. Maybe they could even turn out to be good.

This guy still gave Ben the creeps and even more so when the truck comes to a slow and then to a complete stop. He turns and notices a shovel in the back. What is he planning to do with them?

“I gotta take a leak,” Kyle says, nodding pointedly at Ben. “Care to join me?”

Ben tries to control his breathing, he was not getting good vibes from this guy. “No I’m good.”

“You _sure_ , boy?” he says almost threateningly.

“Yup,” he squeaks. When he’s gone and it’s just the two of them, he lets go of the breath he’d been holding in.

“That guy is strange,” Rey states, twisting around to watch where he’s walking off to.

Ben watches him go deep into the bushes. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

She comfortingly touches his shoulder. “It’ll be fine. I’m going to take Chewie for a bathroom break.”

He begins to follow her. “I’ll come.”

She stops him. “No, I don’t trust this guy and we don’t want him driving off without us.”

Ben bites his lip as he anxiously watches them out on the grass. He twiddles his thumbs, just waiting for her to return. Hoping she would before him. He didn’t even have Chewie to protect him.

He jumps when the driver door opens. He didn’t even notice him walking back.

“I thought we could have done it out there, away from the girl,” Kyle says.

Ben must be hearing things wrong, he has no idea what he’s talking about. “What?”

“It is _you_ , isn’t it? I knew from the moment I looked into your eyes. There’s a darkness there, a passion for death.”

“Uh…”

“I thought you’d be wearin’ white but I don’t mind.” He takes Ben’s hands tightly in his. “Please, just end it now. Do it quick.”

Ben is entirely confused. He pulls out of his grip and tries to get out of the truck. The man puts a firm grip on his arm, stopping him. Ben prays Rey will return soon. Maybe Chewie could bite a chunk out of him.

“I want to die, it’s all I want,” he says. “ _Kill me—_ “

And then he goes silent. A bullet is now lodged in his brain, it flew almost silently and hit him right in the temple. His death was instantaneous. Ben pushes the lifeless body off of him. He doesn’t know how to process what has just happened.

There is a small bullet hole in the windshield and a rolled up piece of paper is wedged in the broken glass. He pulls it out carefully and unrolls it. It says ‘ _STORMTROOPERS_ ’ on top of a white shiny helmet.

The advertisement to hire a hitman. Assisted suicide before the world ends. He’d been talking about how he wished he could die before the asteroid hit and it seems he believed Ben to be the hitman. And then he was hit when he least suspected it.

The door opens and Ben falls out of the truck. Rey had opened the door while he was leaning against it.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” she says, helping to pull him up. “Are you okay—“

Ben vomits onto the grass, feeling sick to his stomach from what he just witnessed. She pats his back and looks into the truck and gasps. He hands her the bit of paper.

“Stormtroopers. Oh Ben I’m so sorry you were right here when it…” She hugs him tight. “It’s okay Ben, we just gotta get rid of the body and then we can get out of here.”

“Shovel,” he croaks. “There’s a shovel in the back.”

Once Ben has had some time calm down, together they pull the body out of the car and drag it to a concealed place out of sight from the road. Ben is still shaking from the ordeal and Rey digs the hole. Thankfully the ground is soft so it’s not too difficult. They cover the body and then sit down and figure out where they are.

“I’m sorry, I should have helped more,” Ben says. “After what I witnessed at work the other day and now this…”

She doesn’t say anything, just wraps her arms around him.

They head back to the truck. The bullet only left a small hole and a few minor cracks. Rey offers to drive and hands Chewie to him.

“You are under orders to lick Ben’s face to make him feel better,” Rey orders the dog.

He obeys and begins licking his face, which makes Ben laugh. “Thanks Chewie. And thank you, Rey.” He doesn’t know what he’d do without her.

They drive in silence along the deserted road. The tank should get them to Maine easily.

Rey’s stomach begins rumbling. “I’m starving. Care to stop at the next place we see?”

Ben didn’t have much of an appetite after he just witnessed, but he did need to eat to keep his strength up.

The first place they come across is a restaurant called _Cantinas_.


	6. 11 Days

_Cantinas_ is a very lively place. Upbeat music baring and lights flashing all kinds of different colours. It’s like a big party. The waiters are wearing rollerblades and people are dancing, No one even bats an eye that they have a dog with them. They feel welcomed here.

Rey and Ben sit in a booth across from each other and read over the menu. Ben’s appetite comes back when he sees the range of the food they offer. The friendly waiter, almost a little _too_ friendly and cheerful, takes their orders.

“Choc chip pancake stack,” Rey says, looking over the menu again. “And an English muffin with bacon and eggs. And a margarita.”

She looks to Ben to make his order. “Make that two margaritas. And I’ll get the French toast with syrup and a side of fries. And a soup and bread bowl for him.” He gestures to Chewie.

“Of course, I’m sure he’ll love it!” their friendly waiter says, giving Chewie a pet on the head, before heading off to get their order ready.

“This place is great isn’t it?” Rey says. “Look at how happy everyone seems. Makes you forget about what’s going on.”

It really did. Everyone dancing and having fun like there was nothing to lose. Which there wasn’t. Not anymore.

When their food arrives, the massive pancake stack in front of Rey makes him envious, but the French toast is delicious. They stuff their faces with way too much food. He only downs a few sips of his drink, it brought back a bad taste in his mouth after the vodka he’d drunk the other night.

Rey takes the final bite of her pancakes as she looks around the restaurant. “How I wish I could be as happy as these people all the time!”

She has a smudge of chocolate on her cheek so he points to it and hands her a napkin to wipe it off.

The friendly waiter returns. “How was your food?”

“Prefect,” Rey says at the same time he says, “Delicious.”

“Chewie loved it too,” Rey adds, looking down at Chewie who was finishing off the remainder of his bread bowl.

“Can I get you anything else?” the waiter asks. “Remember, everything is on the house.”

“We don’t have to pay for any of this?” Rey says, preparing to get some cash out of her pockets. “Are you sure?”

“Of course, at _Cantinas_ we are a safe and happy place welcome to everyone to come for an escape before we’re all blown up.”

Rey smiles. “Actually, today is Ben’s birthday.”

“Oh,” she says excitedly. “This handsome man, you just wait here and I’ll be back.”

When she’s gone, Ben speaks. “It’s not my birthday.”

“I know. I mean, I don’t know when your birthday is but—“

“Not for a while.”

“Well you’re not going to have another one, ever, so look at this as an early celebration for the age you’ll never become.”

That was sweet of her. He’d never even considered he’d never be older than the age he is now. It made him feel a little sad.

The waiter returns with a bunch of people. She places a cake lit up with candles in front of him.

“Happy Birthday to you!” they sing.

Ben doesn’t like it when all the attention is focussed on him. “It’s her birthday too,” he blurts out.

They then begin singing directly to Rey and push the cake into the middle of the table. Rey smirks at Ben and they stare at each other as they're showered in birthday wishes. Together they blow out the candles for the birthdays they’ll never experience.

They then eat the entire cake between them. It’s delicious and a complete sugar overload. They’re both so full from their feast.

“I’m sure I’m a _teensy_ bit drunk,” Rey says, slumping back into the booth. “And I am so full of pancakes and cake and I’ve never eaten this much food in my life.” She grabs her drink and takes a sip. “I’m twenty-one, by the way. I’m not a minor or anything in case you were wondering. Well, actually, _almost_ twenty-one.” She frowns. “I’ll never be twenty-one.”

He takes a sip of his drink but then almost gags. He really didn’t like it, especially not after the cake. “That age is overrated anyway. You won’t miss out on much.”

She stirs her drink as she looks at him. “How old are you, out of curiosity?”

“Thirty-one.” He smiles, they were almost the same age as… and then before he’s even thought it through he speaks. “Same age difference as my parents.”

She looks at him strangely and then grins before laying down on the booth. Chewie was laying down trying to recover from his food coma too.

Ben lays back so his head is lying next to hers. “I regret that cake, combined with the toast and everything else. I can hear it all churning in my stomach.”

“Something to tick off the bucket list,” she says. “Unlimited free food at a restaurant resulting in a food coma, celebrating the birthdays we’ll never have.”

The lie next to each other for a while. Despite the loud music and sounds of people talking, it was quite peaceful. Going to a busy restaurant and eating too much was one of the small joys to be found in life.

The music changes to something more slow and sombre and people begin cheering. They sit back up straight and look around. A conga line is starting. The friendly waiter stops by their table.

“You guys gonna stick around?” she asks.

“Stick around for what?” Rey asks innocently.

A woman wearing a skimpy outfit comes by and slams a wet kiss onto Ben’s lips. He’s too stunned to react and when she pulls away he sees Rey’s mouth open in a big O. That same woman then plants a big kiss on Rey’s lips. He’s surprised by this turn of events and doesn’t know what is going but can’t help but laugh at the bizarre situation they’re in. Arms come from every direction and try to pry them from their booth.

Rey looks around and considers going and joining in. It looks fun. “Is it just a big dance?”

That’s what it appeared to be, from a certain point of view. But Ben notices the passionate kissing going on, and the removal of clothes and half naked people wandering around, and he realises what they were almost about to be caught up in the middle of.

“Not exactly,” Ben says.

She takes a better look at the crowd that has converged and her eyes go wide. She laughs, the both of them do. “I mean, do you want to stay?”

Ben grabs Chewie’s lead and picks him up. That was his answer. They squeeze their way out of the booth and rush out, trying to avoid the crowd of half naked people surrounding them.

They laugh as they run back into the truck. They laugh and laugh and can’t stop laughing.

“Can you believe we were almost a part of an _orgy_?” Rey says. “I never thought I’d ever say those words in a sentence.”

Ben leans back in the drivers seat and wipes the sweat off his forehead. “Can you believe what would have happened if we’d stay—“

Suddenly Rey’s lips are on his. He’s so taken aback and isn’t sure what to do. It’s not like he hasn’t thought about what they’d feel like as his hand runs through her hair. She pulls away and settles into his lap. He takes a breath and looks at her. Really looks at her.

This girl he only met a couple of day ago. This girl who had been so close yet so far away all these years. He waits for an explanation, for her to say this isn’t what it seems. She’s drunk, she’s not thinking straight, this was a mistake, as he always was in every aspect of his life. But instead she says something else.

“I want you to be my last.” Her lips crash into his again as those words reverberate through his head.

Is this really happening? Her last… but she’d have no idea what this would mean to him.

He pushes her away gently as she attempts to pull his shirt off. “Rey, wait. I—“ He pauses and takes her all in, wanting to remember the way her hair strings down like that. The way her lips pout out like that. “I want you to be my first.”

Her enthusiasm from a second ago immediately disappears and she climbs off him. “You haven— no this isn’t right.” She sits back in the passenger seat and crosses her arms.

He reaches over to place a hand on her shoulder. “Rey, I don’t want to die a virgin.”

She gives him a small smile and pats his hand. “You won’t, I promise.” And then after a moment she adds, “Kira will make sure of that.”

He appreciated what she meant, but he felt hollow now. He was on the verge of something meaningful happening to him. Of something amazing. Now all he felt was sadness that the one thing he now wanted was once again out of reach.


	7. 10 Days

Rey fell asleep almost immediately. Ben watched her for a while. Watched how peaceful she was, and wondered how she could be considering the world was going to end in a matter of days. Sleep didn’t come for him so he just sat there.

He hadn’t drunk much alcohol, he only had a few sips and had instead stuffed himself with food. The music was still raging inside _Cantinas_ and he didn’t want to think about what was happening in there and decided to drive.

The roads are empty as he drives through the night. He’s still driving when when the sun begins to rise. Rey stays fast asleep throughout it all.

She finally wakes up when they go over a bump which jolts her awake. It takes her a moment to realise where they are.

“Morning,” she says. “Wait, is it morning? How long was I asleep?”

“It is still morning. Just,” he answers. “You slept for a while. We’ve made good progress, about a hundred miles already.”

“I was gonna do some driving.” She sits up straight and gives a big yawn. “Hey, pull over, I’ll drive for a bit.”

“No, it’s fine, Rey,” he says. “Actually, we may not be able to drive much further, we’re running low on fuel.”

She purses her lips. “I doubt there’s anywhere here that would stock any. Uh… where are we?”

“Maybe a couple of miles from the border of Maine.”

“Hmm,” she says, ruffling though the glove box and every compartment in the car. “Do you think there’s a map in here? I mean, I know no one uses paper maps any more but with the GPS and internet not working I hope there’s one in there.”

Ben waits, not wanting to disrupt her in her search.

“Aha!” she says triumphantly when she finds one. She unfolds it and holds it out wide, almost obscuring his view of the road. “Sorry.” She runs her finger along as she searches for something. “Yes… I think we’re close. My friend Rose, she moved out here. I visited one time. It’s… see here.”

He couldn’t look while he was driving so he pulls over. She shows him the place and he thinks he can find the way there.

“She’s a mechanic and extremely knowledgeable when it come to technology. And she’s a hoarder. Last I heard from her she was building a bomb shelter to wait out the asteroid.”

She sounded like an interesting character. “A bomb shelter? That’s not going to protect them from the asteroid, it will blast right through it.”

Rey looks him sadly. “I know, but don’t mention it please. Let them have hope.”

He smiles. Of course, he was happy for anyone who still had hope.

It’s not long before they arrive at Rose’s house. Thankfully they had enough fuel to get there. It’s a small house that looks like all the others surrounding it. A short girl emerges and when Rey exits the car, her arms spread out wide and she embraces Rey in a hug.

“Rey!!” she says. “I can’t believe you’re here! I didn’t think I’d ever see you again!”

Rey hugs her friend back. “It’s so good to see you, Rose!”

Ben exits the car and awkwardly stands there with Chewie on his lead. When the two friends pull apart, Rose looks at him.

“This is Ben,” Rey says.

He give an awkward wave. “Hi.”

Rose comes over and gives him a hug. “Nice to meet you!”

She was very friendly. Maybe a bit too much for his liking.

She crouches down to pet Chewie and he enjoys the attention. “And who is this?”

“Chewie.”

“Chewie, what a cutie you are! So, what brings you two here?” Rose asks as they head inside.

“We were passing through on our way to Maine,” Rey says. “On our way to visit Ben’s high school sweetheart. He’s going win her back.”

“Oh,” Rose says. She thought she and Ben were a thing. “Well, if there’s time you should all come back and stay with us in the shelter.”

Ben was thankful for the offer, but he gives Rey a look with the knowledge they have.

They head down to the basement. He makes note of the structure of the metal walls. It was quite impressive. It might give them a bit more protection than an ordinary house, but soon enough it would melt. There are two other people in there, sitting at a table playing cards.

“This is my sister, Paige, and this is Kaydel,” Rose says. The two girls wave to them. “We’ve got everything you’d possibly need down here. Fully stocked fridge and pantry, generators that will last for years. Entertainment, TV’s, games consoles, box sets. And then we’ll rebuild the world when it’s all over.”

Ben admired what they’d built down here and Rey looked on in awe. Maybe she should stay here with her friend. Maybe this would be a better place for her to be.

Rose stops at a wall with a chunky phone hung on it. “We have a satellite phone. If there’s anyone you’d like to call, go ahead.”

Rey’s eyes widen. “It works?”

“It does,” Rose confirms.

Ben nods at her, and she takes the phone and dials a number. Calling her parents in London, no doubt. She waits, her smile big and wide. But after a minute her smile fades and she puts the phone back. She shakes her head at Ben and hands it to him.

“Call someone,” she urges.

He takes it sadly and frowns, looking nervously at Rey. He dials a number and waits for it to go through. He won’t pick up, it’d probably be the middle of the night where he is. Not that time really has any meaning anymore.

“Tai?” he says when the dial tone stops.

“Ben.” The response comes through the grainy line. “Ben, is it you? How is this working?”

“A friend, well a of a friend of a friend, has a satellite phone. I didn’t think it would—”

“Ben, man, it’s so good to hear from you! Look I wasn’t expecting a phone call, no one does anymore, but my fiancée is sleeping and I don’t want to wake her. But I hope you’re well.”

He glances over at Rey and realises he actually does feel quite okay with everything at the moment. This little road trip of theirs had been fun. “I wish you all the best, Tai. Good luck.”

“You too, Ben. You too.”

Rey smiles at him when he returns and he joins her on the sofa. He heard the mention of Finn and figured they were talking about her ex.

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Rose says. “I mean, whenever Finn came to pick you up from the shop did you see the way Poe looked at him?”

“No,” Rey says, scratching her head. “No I didn’t notice anything.”

Rose playfully nudges her. “You were always oblivious and stuck in your own fantasy world.”

Rey presses her palms to her eyes. “I feel so stupid! How was I so blind?”

“Don’t beat yourself up? Finn’s a jerk, you deserve better.” She glances up at Ben as she says that.

Rey pulls her hands down. “The only reason he stayed with me is so he could pay half rent.”

“Hey,” Rose says. “Look on the bright side, now he’s homeless, or living in Poe’s garage. Just imagine him living in an old, gross, rusty car when the asteroid hits.”

A small grin appears on her face. “That thought does make me feel better.”

They all burst out laughing and Ben feels a little awkward. He attempts to join in, but communal laughter and laughing at someone else’s expense wasn’t something he liked participating in. But seeing these friends being so happy in each others presence did make him feel good. Once they’d calmed down they needed to get back to business.

“We need some fuel,” Rey says. “You don’t happen to have any spare do you?”

Paige looks to her sister. “You’re talking about Rose Tico, queen of hoarding. Of _course_ we do.”

“Would you have any tape?” Ben asks. “We’ve got a minor crack on the windshield.”

“Minor crack?” Kaydel asks.

“Bullet hole,” Rey says.

“Ouch,” Rose says. “What happened?”

“Have you heard of the Stormtroopers?” Ben asks.

Rose stands up as makes a gun with her fingers and points it at them. “The hitmen?”

Ben nods. “The guy who originally owned the truck hired one.”

“While Ben was in there it happened,” Rey adds.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Paige says. “Must have been traumatic.”

“But aside from that we’ve had a fun time,” Rey says, reaching over and touching his thigh comfortingly. “We were almost caught up in an orgy last night.”

“An orgy?” Rose says, bursting out in laughter.

“Almost,” Ben points out. “We got free food.”

“And cake!” Rey adds. “The food was amazing!”

And then Ben remembers what almost happened after and the joy he felt about retelling what happened last night disappears and is replaced by sadness of what could have been.

“You guys, stay for lunch will you?” Rose says. “Or at least take some food for on the road if you’re not hungry. We’ve got plenty to go around. Kaydel and Paige will go fix your truck and Rey, you can help me with the food.”

That leaves Ben all alone with Chewie. But he liked the quiet, it was what he was used to.

“Ben, just relax for a while, you deserve it,” Rey says.


	8. 10 Days

They ate a little food and took some with them. Who new tinned and frozen food could taste so good. They didn’t stuff themselves as much as they had at _Cantinas._ These three deserved the best chance they had before the asteroid hit. Even if there was no chance of them surviving.

Paige and Kaydel fixed the trucks windshield. Almost as good as new. And the tank was filled up, with even some extra fuel just in case. Rey was forever grateful for the kindness of her friends.

“Thank you Rose,” Rey hugs her goodbye. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“Come back,” Rose says. “There’s still time and you’re _always_ welcome here. Both of you are.” She gives a wink to Ben and Rey giggles.

He’s not sure what that’s about and doesn’t care to find out. They farewell their friends and head on towards Maine.

“Hey, you never told me the story of you and Kira,” Rey says as they drive.

He swallows hard. He wasn’t one for telling personal stories. “There’s not much to it, we met at school and were high school sweethearts. We were together for a few years but then…”

“What happened? Mutual break up? You broke up with her? She broke up with you?” She realises she’s being nosy and stops talking.

“She broke my heart,” he finally says. “She… left me. And it took me a long time to get over it.”

“I’m sorry,” she says. “But she wants you back now right? She regrets what she did.”

He shrugs. “She says she does.”

Rey focusses hard on his expressions, trying to read him. “You never stopped loving her did you? It sucks it took the end of the world for her to realise what she lost.”

His feelings were all muddled. He didn’t know what to think anymore. He isn’t even sure what it is he wanted. Or who.

Eventually, they arrive at Kira’s parents house. The house he used to spend all his time at to avoid his parents. The place where he had his first kiss. A lot of firsts in this house. A lot of memories, good and bad. He takes a deep breath and Rey places a hand comfortingly on his arm.

They head to the door and knock a few times, but there is no answer. No lights are on, no cars in the driveway, they appear not to be home. He looks to Rey uncertainly.

“Well we’ve driven all the way here and it’s the end of the world, no one is gonna care if we break in,” she says.

She pushes on the door and it’s locked, so she rummages around the place and finds a spare key in a hanging flowerpot. “Aha. I was always good at treasure hunts.”

As soon as they head inside, the familiar smell wafts into his nose. The smell he always associated with Kira. Everything is neat and tidy and perfectly immaculate as it always was. Nothing has changed much since then. There is a thin layer of dust over everything. It appears no one has been here for several weeks.

“We may as well spend the night here,” Rey says. “I doubt anyone's coming back. Looks like they left for good.”

Ben checks the lights, electricity is all working. And Rey opens the freezer, which is almost fully stocked.

“Tonight we’re feasting!” she announces.

He smiles and heads upstairs to Kira’s old room. This was where it began for him. Where he began to mature into a man. It’s as it was when she was younger. Nothing has changed. Nothing at all. He feels like that awkward teenager again.

Chewie roams around the house and Ben looks through old memories while Rey cooks them a gourmet meal. They eat and talk about their adventure so far. They've had more fun than they’d had in months, or even years, in the past couple of days.

After they’ve eaten, they had into the living room and turn on the TV in the background. News about the asteroid, that’s really all there is these days. It’s depressing, as it always is.

Rey searches the bookshelves and comes over to sit next to him on the sofa. She’s holding a large book in her arms. He looks at her quizzically.

“Yearbook,” is all she says and that’s enough to make him cringe.

She won’t let him leave the room while she flicks through and finds his senior portrait. He can’t look at it, he doesn’t like to think of his high school days.

“You were so cute!” she says. “Look at your _ears_!”

He groans. “Don’t get me started on my ears—“

“Why? I love them, it’s a shame you hide them.” She reaches over to attempt to tuck his hair behind his ear. He objects and playfully pushes her away.

Then she goes through every page of the yearbook and comes to a picture of him and Kira together at prom.

“She’s beautiful,” Rey says, running her fingers over the photo. “You two make a beautiful couple.”

Ben just looks at her, and resists the urge to run his fingers down her hair. But before he even has a chance to make a move, she’s left the room, leaving him alone. He finds a book that looks mildly interesting on the bookshelf and distracts himself from everything going on by reading.

“Ben,” Rey says.

He jumps, surprised by the sudden noise after the silence. He finds her standing in the doorway with something in her hand.

“I found a letter, from Kira, with a return address.”

He takes the envelope from her and turns it over. “It’s not far from here.”

She gives a small smile he can’t quite make sense of. “We’ll go tomorrow. You’ll to be reunited with her soon.”

He frowns. “Yeah.”

“Nervous?”

“A little,” he admits.

“I found some blank envelopes if you’d like to write her something. You know, in case she’s not home.”

Ben decides to sleep in Kira’s old bed. He hovers the pen over the paper and tries to rack his brain for something, _anything_ , to say to her after all these years. But he only gets as far as writing one word which he then crosses out.


	9. 4 Days

They head out early the next morning. The have the radio on quietly as they drive. The same old news they’d gotten used to. The asteroid is coming and they’re all doomed.

But then some breaking news comes through. They glance at each other as Rey turns the volume up.

“It’s now looking as though asteroid _Starkiller_ will make landfall in as few as four, or possibly even three, days. Much earlier than originally predicted.”

Ben looks nervously to Rey. They had only a few days left now and no time to waste. Ben turns off the radio, not wanting to hear anything more. They drive in silence the rest of the way, the news making them feel unsettled. It was coming sooner than anyone had expected.

Ben parks on the curb outside of the address on the back on the envelope. Kira’s house. They were here. He hesitates for a moment, breathing heavily. He fiddles with the letter he wrote, almost wanting to scrunch it up and throw it out the window.

“Hey, it’s alright,” Rey says, loosening his fingers from the envelope. “Look, there’s a car in the driveway. I’d say there’s a good chance she’s home.”

He wasn’t sure whether that made him feel better or worse.

“I’ll wait here,” she says. “I don’t want to… you know, get in the way.”

That made him even more nervous, going there alone. He holds the red envelope tightly as he walks to the door. He stops and listens, putting his ear close to the door. He can hear chatter and the clanking of utensils on plates. Someone is home.

He stops with his fist held high, ready to knock. But he can’t do it. What was he thinking? Kira had broken his heart. She stomped on it and he’d never fully recovered. Why was here? Why did he think coming to see her was a good idea?

Because she sent a letter saying she wanted him back? Because the world was ending and he didn’t have any other choices? But that wasn’t true. Not now. He did have another choice. And this time he wasn’t going to choose her. He quickly walks back to the truck and hurriedly gets back in, slamming the door shut.

Rey sits up straight. “What? What happened? Was she home?”

“I think so,” he croaks, stuffing the letter into the pocket of his jacket.

“Well why didn’t you go in? Why didn’t you knock?” She gestures down to the letter poking out of his jacket. “Why didn’t you at least leave that for her?”

“I couldn’t,” he mumbles.

“Why not?” She was mad at him, that was obvious. He was mad at himself too, for not being able to say what he wanted.

He turns the key in the ignition and starts the truck.

“What are you doing? We drove all the way here for you to win Kira back and now you’re going to throw it all away?”

He doesn’t respond and instead starts driving off.

She throws her arms up in frustration. “Where are we going now?”

“I don’t know, I just need to go. I need to get away from here.”

“Ben?!”

He could tell she regretted this whole thing. She regretted getting to know him. He’d taken her on this journey and it was all a disaster and he was sorry for what he’d dragged her along on. But this is what he always did. This was simply who he was. A screw up, even his parents thought that of him.

She’s silent for a while, giving him time to let some steam off, but then she starts nagging him again.

“Would you _tell_ me what happened? I thought this is what you wanted. To spend your final days with her. She was right there… why didn’t you go in?”

He didn’t want to answer. But he knew why. He felt stupid that it was so obviously there but he couldn’t make himself say the words. And there was doubt in his mind that she wouldn’t feel the same.

“Ben? Will you talk to me?”

“ _No_ , Rey, will you please stop!” he snaps.

Stupidly he decided to take his eyes off the road and look directly at her as he said it. Her eyes go wide as she screams his name and Chewie begins barking like a mad dog. He turns back to the road and sees why.

There is a line of people walking across the road and they’re about to smash right through them. He swerves to avoid them and they crash into the bushes.

It takes him a moment to find his bearings. It wasn’t a serious collision but the truck is stuck down in a ditch. His eyes find Rey, who is thankfully still conscious.

“Rey,” he says, grabbing her delicate wrist.

She looks up at him, her cheek sightly bruised but otherwise she looks fine. Then she looks towards the road. A steady stream of people are still walking towards… something.

“Where are they going?” she asks. Her voice has a dreamy like quality to it.

He cranes his neck to look in their direction. “Looks like they’re heading to the beach.”

She opens her door and begins following the people. He struggles to open his and has to squeeze past the prickly bushes. He picks Chewie up and carries him as they follow the crowd.

The beach is full of all kinds of different people converged together as one. Some lounging around, some of them swimming, quite a few surfing. Families, couples, people on their own, people mingling with others. There are also a few dogs are running around, which gets Chewie excited.

They find a place to sit down on the sand. There’s a feeling of peacefulness as the cool breeze washes over them. They listen to the cheers of the children, the crashing of the waves on the shore, and the chatter of all the people. What a beautiful way to spend one of their final days.

“Ben,” Rey says, snaking her hand over to take his lightly. “I’m sorry if I was the one who ruined things back there. I probably made things awkward didn’t I?”

“Oh no,” he says, squeezing her hand lightly. “No, it wasn’t because of you.” That wasn’t entirely true though. It was her. But she didn’t ruin anything. She couldn’t possibly have ruined anything.

“Then why?” She turns to him. “Why didn’t you go in if she was home? Why didn’t you at least leave the letter?”

The _stupid_ letter, he wishes he’d never even attempted to write it. “I don’t…”

“Oh I think you _do_.” Her voice begins to rise. She’s angry at him again. “We came all the way and she wanted you back, why—“

Ben can’t take it anymore and presses his lips to hers to silence her. They stay like that, connected without a care in the world, and time seems to stand still.

When they finally pull apart, breathless, Rey has the biggest smile on her face.

“That’s why,” is all he says.

Her smile get even bigger and her eyes are shining in the sunlight. “Good reason.” She pulls him back in for another kiss.

Ben feels something pull on him, Chewie has come free of his lead and started terrorising some other dogs.

“Chewie!” he yells as he pulls away from her.

Rey pushes him back down and gets up instead. She gives him a look which he’s sure means they’ll continue what they were in the middle of. She runs, bellowing Chewie’s name as she races around to catch him.

While Rey is off getting Chewie he can’t help but feel like the luckiest person in the world. Rey was his future, he was certain of that now. Whatever short future he had left, she is the person he wanted to spend it with.

He reaches over to her bag and finds her sketchbook. He pulls it out and flicks through. Rey comes back with Chewie in her arms and sees him looking at her work.

She plops him down and takes the sketchbook out of his hands. “I’ll draw you.”

Ben’s low self worth and dislike of his appearance deterred him from wanting her to do that. “Oh no, Rey, really you don’t have to.”

“C’mon, hold Chewie.” She hands the dog to him, but he tries to inch away from her. “C’mon, or he’ll run off again. _Hold him_.”

He obeys and sits back with Chewie held tightly in his arms, squinting as the brightness of the sun pains his eyes. But he doesn’t let it get him down and enjoys the warm sunlight. Soon the sun would no longer be here. Soon there’d be no warmth. Soon there’d be nothing.

Rey settles down across from him and sits cross legged as she get her pencil out to start sketching. “One more thing.” She leans over and tucks his hair behind his ears.

As he’s holding Chewie with both arms he can’t stop her so he tries to shake his hair back over his ears. “No Rey, please.”

She tucks it tightly behind his ears so it won’t come loose. “I like your ears.”

He has no choice but to go along wth it. It takes a little while but he enjoys watching her in her element. Sketching, the sun shining through her hair. Everything is all good. Everything is more than perfect.

The finished drawing is very lifelike, but he cringes away because his ears are the main attraction. He shakes his head aggressively and his hair comes loose and covers his ears. She playfully shoves him and when he shoves her back, Chewie runs off again.

“Chewie!” Rey yells, running off on a desperate attempt to retrieve him.

They spend the afternoon mingling on the beach. Having conversations with strangers, making the most of all the beauty the world had to offer. It really warmed his heart to see it all. This moment was something to be treasured.

When the sun begins to set, people all sit still and watch. How many more of these will there be? Three at most, maybe less if the asteroid blocks the sun.

With the truck stuck in the bushes, it was no longer able to be driven. They ask around for a ride and a nice woman named Maz offers to drive them. Ben knew where they should go now. It’s the place they should have gone from the beginning.

Rey look back at him questioningly. She's holding Chewie tight in the passenger seat while he sits in the back.

“You’ll see when we get there,” he says, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

She smiles in return, her face flushed from the sun and looking as beautiful as ever.


	10. 3 Days

When they arrive at their destination, they farewell the wonderful Maz who is on her way to see her grandson in Buffalo. The only one of her twenty-two grandchildren she’d never met before. They wave as she drives off.

“She was an amazing woman. It’s heartwarming how nice people can be,” Rey says.

All the people they’d met on this trip and the experiences they’d had were something they never wanted to forget.

The farmhouse is in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees and hidden from the main road. Ben takes Rey’s hand in his and leads her not to the front door, but around the side of the house. There is a low fence but through the wooden pallets it could be seen.

She looks at him with a wide grin as she rushes to the fence and climbs up to look over. She turns back to him, ginning from ear to ear. “The pilot.”

He joins her in looking over the fence. _Millennium Falcon_ was clearly printed on the side of the propeller plane.

“We should have come straight here. I’m sorry for leading on this wild goose chase,” he says.

She climbs down and kisses him slowly. “We’re here now. There’s still time.”

Ben leads her to the front door. He takes her hand for comfort, being here was making him incredibly anxious, and then knocks.

The door opens after a moment and an older man with greyish hair appears. His mouth opens in surprise when he sees who’s standing on his doorstep.

“Ben?” he says, squinting his eyes.

“Hi dad,” Ben replies.

Rey looks from one to the other and her face lights up when she realises what this means. His father, who he hadn’t seen for years and was estranged from. Who he didn’t want to visit even through the world was ending. He was here now. He was going to reconcile with him and Rey couldn’t be happier.

“I’m Rey,” she says holding out her hand out but then abandoning it and wrapping her arms around him instead.

Chewie begins chewing on Ben’s father’s foot and he grunts as he tries to shoo him away.

“And this is Chewie,” Ben says. His father never did like furry things. “He likes chewing.”

“I can see that,” he says, and then pulls Ben into a hug. “Come here, son.”

Ben feels tears beginning to trickle out of his eyes. He hadn’t been home in… years. He hadn’t even spoken to his father since his mother died. He wasn’t ever planing to, not after their falling out. But all the hatred and grudges they’d held onto, none of it mattered anymore.

They head inside the familiar house from Ben’s childhood. There is aircraft memorabilia all over the place and countless photos of his mother, and a few of all of them together. The Solo family.

“Rey wants to get back home to London,” Ben says.

His father looks at him and his face breaks into the smallest of smiles. “I haven’t flown _her_ in probably close to five years now. I’m a little rusty.”

“But you could, right?” Ben says. “You’ve got fuel, you always had lots. I bet you could even fly in your sleep. You’re the _best_ pilot I’ve ever seen, and with the asteroid—"

He places his hand on his sons shoulder. “Of course I can, Ben. I’d do anything for you, you always knew that.”

He nods, wishing things could go back to the way they were before she died. When things were good.

“Come with me,” Rey says, grabbing onto Ben's jacket. “Come with me to London. Both of you. And Chewie.”

Ben liked the sound of that, but it wasn’t possible. “Only two people can fit in the _Falcon_ , and I’m not a skilled pilot. Not like the legendary Han Solo.”

His father smiles and looks around at all his flying trophies and awards. “Not to brag but I _am_ pretty good. Ben used to be great too, could have even caught up to me, but you stopped your lessons when you went though your rebellious stage.”

“Oh,” Rey says, her face falling.

“If you want to go it’ll just be me and you,” Han says to her.

She nods sadly and squeezes Ben’s hand.

They eat a meal of his father’s very average cooking. But it was food, and they were thankful for that. They talk and laugh. Ben reminisces with his father about his childhood, and his mother, and how happy they all were at one point in time. Rey fits in nicely with her cheerful banter and contagious smile.

“Ben,” his father says. “I considered flying out to New York to see you. Truth be told, even being in the sky by myself most of my life, I was scared of dying alone.”

Ben gives him a smile. “We’re together now.”

“None of us are going to die alone," Rey says. "We have each other, as cheesy as that sounds.”

Right on cue, Chewie comes running in with one of Han’s trophies in his mouth.

“Ah, that little _shit._ ” Han jumps up and starts chasing him around trying to get his prized possession back.

Ben and Rey can’t help but laugh. With his father out of the room, Ben kisses her. This was it. Home, with family, and the woman of his dreams. He couldn’t think of a better way to spend one of his last days on Earth.

“I’m glad you brought me here,” she says.

Han sets up Ben’s old bedroom for them to sleep in. The small double bed would be a tight fit for the both of them, but he didn’t mind. He wanted nothing more than her warm body close to his.

When they’re all settled, they lie side by side with their noses almost touching.

“I don’t know anymore,” she says.

He brushes her hair out of her eyes. “Don’t know what?”

“If I want to go to London.”

“What do you mean? You said you wanted to be with your family.”

“Things have changed since then.” She lets out a long breath as she snuggles closer to him. “You’ll be alone.”

“I’ll have Chewie.”

“But…” She doesn’t continue that sentence.

He understands her doubts and concerns. But now he felt he was getting in the way of her dreams. He was always getting in the way.

“We’ve still got a few days. Think about it, okay?” he finally says.

She nods. “Stay with me, Ben. Don’t leave.”

“I won’t,” he promises.

But it’s an empty promise. He knew what he needed to do.


	11. 3 Days

As soon as Rey falls asleep, Ben gets up and goes out to the living room. As he hoped, his father was still up. And surprisingly, Chewie was fast asleep next to him.

Rey had left her sketchbook out and he is flicking through it. He’s stopped on the portrait she did of him on the beach.

His father acknowledges his presence. “Your mother always loved your ears.”

Ben blushes and pulls his hair back over his ears self consciously. That was true. It was only when she died that he grew his hair out so he could cover them.

His father closes the sketchbook and slides over on the sofa. Chewie gives a growl when he’s disturbed from his nap. “Oh shh,” his father growls back.

Ben settles down and really looks at him. He has fine wrinkles all over his face, dark circles under his eyes, and brittle grey hair. He’d aged a lot since he last saw him.

“Ben, I’m sorry,” his father says. “After your mother died, I took things really hard. I pushed you away.”

Ben feels as though he’ll start crying. “It wasn’t all you, I took it hard too. She was the glue that kept us together. She kept us sane. Without her we lost ourselves.”

“The one comfort I have with all this end of the world business is that soon we’ll be reunited with her.” He smiles the way he always used to when looking at his mother. “I’m glad you came home.”

“I am too.”

His father pulls him into a warm hug and he lets the tears fall.

“She’s special, that one. Reminds me of your mother. Funny, infectious smile, strong willed.” He pauses for moment as they hold each other. “Don’t let her go.”

Ben pulls away. He has a sad look on his face.

He presses his lips into a fine line. “You’re going to let her go.”

“She’s having second thoughts,” Ben says. “But ever since we left New York she’s been saying how much she wants to go back to London. And she should be able to. She should be with her family.”

His father understands, but Ben knows he doesn’t approve.

He doesn’t want to backtrack on this plan. Not even when his father looks at him like that. “She’s a deep sleeper, she’d be there before she even wakes up.”

His father squeezes his hand and stands up. “I’ll get the _Falcon_ ready.” He stops the doorway. “Ben, I hope you’re not making a big mistake.”

Something in his gut tells him he is, but another part wants to do right by Rey. He wanted to give something back to her after in only the span of a few days she’d opened up his world and his heart. “She should be with her family,” he says.

His father nods, understanding why he wanted to do this, and goes off to get the plane ready.

Rey is still fast asleep on his bed and he takes a moment to watch her. He wants his last memory of her to be one of peace and beauty. And it is. He’ll miss her, but she’ll be home. It’s the right thing to do.

He scoops up Rey in his arms and carries her outside to the waiting _Falcon_. His father is in the pilots seat with his headset all ready. He gets Rey settled into the passenger seat and puts her seatbelt on securely. She’s still snoring soundly, in no danger of waking up by the loud engine of the piece of junk his father called a plane.

His father gives him a goodbye nod which he reciprocates.

He feels something sharp in his jacket pocket and pulls it out. The letter, the one he was supposed to write to Kira. He tucks it into Rey’s pocket. She’ll know what it means.

“It was you,” Ben whispers, kissing her on the forehead. “It was always you.”

He steps back, taking one last look at her, before he closes the door. He stands back and watches as the _Millennium Falcon_ shakily lifts into the air and flies off.


	12. 2 Days

As soon as the _Falcon_ is out of sight Ben goes back inside. His childhood home now felt so small. So insignificant. He takes a few mementos. Awards and trophies of his father's. Photos of his mother, and the three of them together as a family.

He packs it all into a bag and picks up a sleepy Chewie who tries to nip at his finger with his sharp teeth.

“It’s okay, it’s just me,” he says, and the little beast settles. For some reason his father got him all riled up. He’s not sure why.

He takes his father’s car and drives along the empty roads. The news on the radio lets him know there are now only two days left. This was it. This was the end. Everyone was staying put now, not wanting to be out and about when the asteroid hit.

He drives straight to New York without stopping. He speeds along the abandoned roads. No one would care. He doubted the police were even out patrolling anything anymore.

The streets are a mess from all the riots and fire damage, but the apartment block is still mostly standing. It seems the first three levels were all gutted, but the fourth and above are still intact. He walks up the stairs and heads to the window of his apartment. The place where he first met Rey, he realises.

It opens easily and he climbs in. He flicks the light switch and it comes on. The electricity works. Still power, at least. But half the roof has fallen in and some of his possessions are destroyed. He lets Chewie run off but as he looks around he realises how much he doesn’t need all this stuff. This place had been his home for the past five years but it felt empty. Like a shell. Not a home. Never a home. Just a place. This isn’t where he wants to spend the last moments of his life.

He leaves everything behind, only taking the things he’d grabbed from his father’s house, and walks across the hallway. He climbs through the window like he did that day the riots started. Her apartment only has some minor damage and is otherwise untouched. He only came in once, briefly, and that’s when he encountered her ex and they had to rush off. He never got to properly look around. Well, now he could. Now he had two days to spend here. 

He spends the day looking through all her belongings. The photos albums documenting her life. Her as a child, her hair in three buns, smiling with her parents. Her early life in London. With friends and family, going on camping trips. Then her growing up, out of her childish hairstyles and letting her gorgeous hair hang down. Some photos with Finn, a lot with Rose, the mechanic shop, with the man he presumes is Poe.

He finds a pile of sketchbooks, organised by year, and lies down on the floor as he looks through them all. He loves learning more about her. She is so exquisite in every way. He begins to fall even more in love with her than he thought possible. He’d been alone for so long but now he felt more alone than ever. He’d only just found her, and then he’d let her go.

But it wasn’t a bad place to die. The world of the person who’d been so close for so long and he didn’t even realise. Her presence was here, lingering in every corner, and that made him feel at peace.

Chewie snuggles up next him. He pets him as he stares at the roof. This was it. This is how it was going to all end. He felt tired, even though he didn’t want to sleep. But then again, maybe sleeping when it happened would be better.

He reaches over and picks up a photo of her. It must be recent, she looks almost exactly as she did in the short time he knew her. Her infectious smile and piercing brown eyes. He holds it close to his chest and drifts off to sleep.


	13. 1 Day

Ben wakes with a start and finds himself in complete darkness. The power has gone off. It must be close. No more electricity. He checks the time and it’s almost 3AM. Today must be the day.

Chewie isn’t next to him anymore. He sits up and looks around. “Chewie?” he calls into the darkness.

He gets up and blindly walks towards the kitchen. He finds some candles and lights them to give him a bit of light. They smell like her. Like the scent she gave off. A little too much like her.

“Chewie?” he yells out again.

He finally finds him in the doorway to the living room, growling at something towards the window. His heart sinks. It’s starting isn’t it? This is the beginning of the end.

“What is it?” His eyes slowly move upwards towards where his growls are aimed at. And then his heart almost stops.

She was there, standing _right_ there, in front of him. Was this a dream? How was she here? She was supposed to be in London. She was supposed to be home with her family.

“How could you leave me?” she says. Her voice is quiet, smaller than it’s ever been before. “How could you do that?”

“I don’t know. It was stupid. So _stupid_.” The stupidest thing he’d ever done.

She holds up the letter, the one he was supposed to write to Kira. But all he’d ended up writing was her name, _Rey_ , and crossing it out. She lets it fall to the ground as she runs into his arms.

“I woke up and made him turn around,” she says into his ear. “He agreed that you’re an idiot.”

His father wasn’t wrong. “What about your family?”

She shakes her head into his shoulder. “The truth is they left me when I was very young. I went from foster home to foster home and it was rough. I came here to escape that life. But I’d held onto this hope that one day I’d reunite with them and things could go back to the way they were. But I don’t even know where they are, and I doubt they’d want to see me. It was a stupid pipe dream, one I couldn’t ever let go of.”

He is listening carefully, feeling stupid for not realising that she may not have been telling him the whole truth. And he’d still let her go.

“There was no guarantee, in fact, there was zero chance I’d find them,” she continues. “I’d be all alone over there. But you… you were _here_. And I was blind for so long.” She pushes something into his hand.

He looks down at his open palm and finds his father’s most precious possession. The only thing he had strung up in the _Falcon_ and scolded anyone who touched them. “His lucky dice.”

“He wanted you to have them.”

He’s touched by this sentiment but then frowns. “Not sure how much good it will do now.”

“I came back,” she says. “It’s a miracle I made it here in time. I’d say that’s good luck.”

“You came back,” he says.

“Of course I did.” She pulls him into a kiss and then smirks at him. "That letter, by the way…”

“Not my finest work I’ll admit.” He gives her a quick kiss on the forehead. “I never should have gone back to Kira. I was willing to settle for her. Settle for the person who broke my heart just because the world was ending and I had no other choice. But then you…”

She runs her hands through his hair as she waits for him to continue.

“Then you came into my life and I realised I didn’t have to settle. I let you go because I wanted to give something back to you after everything you’d given me.”

“I only want to be with you. That’s all I want.” Her voice is a whisper now.

They’re both crying and laughing, and just relishing in each others presence. So many churning emotions between then that they don’t know how to make sense of. Then she kisses him again, harder this time, as she pushes him towards her bedroom.

She begins removing his clothes, and her touch on his bare chest sends sparks through his veins. He looks at her, not sure what to say, nervous for what is going to happen.

“I promised you,” she says, pulling her own shirt over her head.

Before he has a chance to respond her lips are on his again and he desperately tries to take the remainder of her clothes off.

Ben explores her body with his hands, his fingers, his lips. She kept her promise from the parking lot at _Cantinas._ And now they were one.

Afterwards, he looks at her. Her face glowing in the candle light. He couldn’t imagine a better way to spend his last day.

He begins to get up but she pulls his arm back. “Don’t go.”

He runs his hand down her cheek. “I’ll only be a moment.”

He puts his underwear on as he makes his way to the bathroom. He washes his face and looks at his bare chest in the mirror. He smiles. A real genuine smile. It took the end of the world but he’d finally found happiness.

It was late morning, yet the sun hadn’t come out. They had mere hours left, if that. It was getting close now.

A loud bang is heard outside and it reverberates around the apartment. Rey screams. He rushes back to the bedroom and pulls her close. They hold each other as more ground shattering bangs are heard. They said the debris would hit first. Right before the main attraction.

“I’m scared,” Rey says. Her body is shaking and even his body heat can’t stop it.

“Don’t be afraid,” he says. “I’m right here. Everything will be okay.”

They settle themselves on the bed, under the covers, facing each other so all they can see is the other. Chewie comes up and gets under too, right at the end near their feet.

“I don’t want to fall asleep,” Rey says. “I don’t want to miss another second with you.”

“Talk to me,” he says softly. He felt surprisingly calm. “What was life in London like?”

“The city.” She sniffles. “Wonderful. Before my parents left, everything was great. School was good, I had many friends. But it felt small. It doesn’t really feel like home anymore. What about you? You dad was…”

“He’s a character isn’t he?” Ben laughs, combing his finger continuously though her hair. “He was a great father, but honestly it was my mother who kept us together. Without her, everything fell apart. I… _we_ both did things we wish we could take back.”

“Tell me about her.”

“She was wonderful, the most elegant woman you’d ever met. She knew exactly what she wanted and she cared. She cared so much. She had a such a caring heart. My dad said you reminded him of her.”

She laughs. “Oh did he?”

“The highest compliment you could possibly get.” He kisses her forehead, not wanting to ever forget the feel of her skin on his lips. “She was the most wonderful person. The most wonderful mother. She would have loved you.”

They talk for hours about everything and nothing. The conversation continually jumping from one topic to the next as the sounds get louder and flashing lights get brighter outside. They talk and talk through it all.

“I met Finn on a dating site actually. And I loved him, I think I still do. But not in a romantic way, I don’t know if that’s ever what it was. Poe and I never really got along. He was bossy, and arrogant. He and Finn are the perfect match. And Rose, she worked at the mechanic too and we were inseparable. Until she moved back to support her sister through a tough time.”

“Tai was my best friend, the first friend I made in New York. He showed me around the city and through him is how I found a job. I felt so alone when he left. I didn’t think I’d ever meet someone else. Making friends was always difficult for me.” He caresses her cheek gently. “But then I met you.”

“I wish we’d met each other a long time ago,” she says.

“You were right there and I didn’t even know it. If I’d just said hello to you at the mailbox, or in the parking lot. If I’d just…”

“Shhh,” she silences him. “That wouldn’t have been enough time. I wish we’d met when we were kids. Growing up together, falling in love slowly, our worlds intertwined forever.”

“Nothing ever would have been enough,” he says. “No time in the whole world would have been enough.”

The sounds outside start getting more frequent and louder.

“I’m glad I found you, Ben. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“And you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Ben,” she whispers. “I love you.”

His world turns upside down the moment she says it. Him? She loved _him_? Love, always a hard word to him to say, even to his mother who he undoubtedly loved more than anything else in the world.

The only way he can make himself reply is by saying, “I know.”

I _know_ how you feel because I feel the same. I _know_ what you mean because we are one and the same.

Rey, who’d been right across the hall for years. Rey, who made him feel wanted and loved when no one else did. His Rey. His light. His future. He wouldn’t want to leave this world anywhere else than in her arms.

The last thing Ben sees is her smiling back at him as the asteroid engulfs them and everything turns white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading!


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